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Plant Sale, Ice Cream Social Volunteer Day, Youth Programming Update, and Flea Beetle Management

🌱 Jovial Gardens🍅<!–



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Orchard Happenings and Updates

🌱 Hi Everybody! We’ve had a good stretch of rain, and the orchard trees couldn’t be happier! But now the sun is out, the days are heating up quickly and summer is officially in the air. Technically summer starts on the summer solstice, the longest day in the northern hemisphere (June 20th), but phew is it ever hot out!

This Saturday, June 14th, at 10am we will be learning about local wildlife and bugs and insects from an Entomologist! Come out to learn what’s buzzing around the park!

PLANT SALE! Saturday, June 21st, We are hosting an Ice Cream Social for the community and volunteers, as well as our late-season plant sale, and a volunteer day to tackle some orchard projects.

If you had anything knocked out by hail storms and need extra vegetable plants, or would like to meet the team, or just help out with some volunteer projects, you can come out at 10am to join in the fun!

In the rest of this newsletter, we are sharing some insights into some of the fun summer youth programming we’ve had going on this year, and talking about Flea beetles, a pest which is visiting our gardens.

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Youth Gardening Activities!

We had two amazing visits from our entomologist friend Karim from CSU this spring! The kids explored real insect collections, gently petted hissing beetles, observed a tarantula, tried seasoned crickets (yes, really!), and learned about wasp nests, bug jobs, and more. We even went on a mini insect hunt and played nature-themed games. Curiosity was buzzing!  

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      Garden-Fresh Watermelon Salad!

      We wrapped up our spring garden enrichment with a delicious hands-on cooking activity: garden-fresh watermelon salad! The kids took charge – chopping watermelon and cucumbers, tearing basil and mint, slicing shallots, zesting and juicing limes, and finishing it all off with a splash of olive oil. It was colorful, simple, and a huge hit – such a fun and tasty way to celebrate the season together!

      Make-It-Yourself: Watermelon Salad 🌿🍉

      You’ll need:

      • 1 mini watermelon (chopped)

      • 1 cucumber (chopped)

      • A few basil and mint leaves (torn)

      • 1 shallot (sliced thin)

      • 1 lime (zest and juice)

      • A splash of olive oil

      Steps:

      1. Combine chopped watermelon and cucumber in a big bowl.

      2. Add the torn herbs and sliced shallot.

      3. Zest and juice the lime into the bowl.

      4. Add a splash of olive oil.

      5. Mix it all up—and enjoy!

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      Flea beetles in the Garden

      What’s Eating Our Tomatoes… and peppers and other plants?

      Flea Beetles!

      What?


      These tiny pests can do a surprising amount of damage, especially when left unchecked. They create round-ish “shot” holes in leaves and can severely impact a plant’s health. They are tiny black beetles and when disturbed, they’ll jump away faster than the eye can see (like a flea).

      What can we do?
      Flea beetles thrive in overgrown, weedy areas. And as a community, we’re tackling the weediest garden areas during our Saturday mornings. To help others out and reduce places for these beetles to hide.

      What about insecticides?
      We encourage Integrated Pest Management (IPM) whenever we can. This is like a full toolbox of hammers and screwdrivers and multiple techniques for managing a pest or weed.
       

      Integrated Pest Management – Flea Beetles

      Culturally (This is step 1 in our IPM toolkit), we are taking out weedy areas and planning thorough fall cleanups to prevent over wintering of these pests. It doesn’t help to reduce flea beetle populations if there are weedy reservoirs and hiding places for them.

      Mechanically (Step 2 in our IPM toolkit), in smaller gardens a floating row cover can be installed. This is fine mesh netting and doubles as hail protection!

      As a further measure, Chemically, the use of diatomaceous earth is suggested as a control by CSU, the University of Maryland, and Virginia Tech Extension. Diatomaceous earth is only effective when dry, and may need to be reapplied after a rain. Use Caution, read and follow the label and instructions of any product you apply.

      And further, Insecticidal Soap (NOT Dish Detergent) is suggested by education based resources to be effective. This product can burn certain plants and it is therefore recommended that it be tested on a few leaves before entire plants are sprayed. This product is only effective while it is wet. Read and follow the label of any product you apply.

       

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